Central Kitchen hires Lisa Lu as pastry chef, Marko Sotto as GM

Flour + Water sequel Central Kitchen is quickly approaching its due date, but today comes a little more news that chef-partner Thomas McNaughton, chef de cuisine Michael Gaines and the rest of the crew there is building out the rest of their opening team.

The pastry chef will be Lisa Lu, who was last seen at Jardiniere, where Michael Bauer called her “a masterful pastry chef who has the rare ability to bring everything together in an integrated dessert.” Lu was also a James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef this year.

They’ve also hired a general manager: Marko Sotto, formerly of RN74.

Along with McNaughton, David White and David Steele are the other main partners in Flour + Water, Central Kitchen and Salumeria.

As of today, they’re still aiming for a late April debut for Central Kitchen, where McNaughton and Gaines will put forth their take on Northern California cuisine; the adjacent deli, Salumeria, is planned to follow afterward.

Last night, they held the first of two Central Kitchen preview dinners; there’s another one next week. Also, there’s a Salumeria pop-up Wednesday night at Shotwell’s.